The Abyssal Rift skill spat us out unceremoniously a few feet in the air, tumbling violently, and the four of us came to a stop at the bottom of a small hill.

  My eyes opened, the sunlight shining against my face. We were in the middle of a vast, grassy field, stretching endlessly toward the horizon like a sea of green. The breeze was gentle, carrying with it the scent of flowers I hadn’t smelled in ages. The three demons slowly sat up, looked at each other, then at me.

  “How did you do that?” the female demon tilted her head curiously. She had long red hair and small, petite horns protruding from her head.

  “One of my skills.”

  “That was amazing, mister! You saved us!” One of the demons, a taller boy with long, curling horns, grayish skin, and hulking muscles, exclaimed.

  “Can you teach us?” The third demon, shorter than the rest of us, asked sheepishly. He had blue hair and medium-length horns.

  Suddenly, the blue screen appeared in front of me.

  Huh. That might explain why they’re staring at me like I’m their damn messiah.

  “What’re you guys’ names?” I questioned the trio.

  The bigger demon spoke first. “Zorrak!”

  “Viressa.” The female demon followed.

  “Cedric.” The third demon said softly.

  “And yours?” Viressa asked.

  “Car—Er. I mean, Lucivar.”

  “That's a good name!” Zorrak exclaimed. The other two nodded in affirmation. I sent a friend request to each of them, similar to the way Kril had back in Hell.

  [Kill them.] The cruel voice said casually.

  “What the hell is wrong with you!” I said aloud. The trio of demons glanced around, then at each other.

  They probably think I’m crazy.

  This time, I made sure to keep my thoughts inside my head.

  You’re just jealous I have more friends than you.

  [No, I’m not.]

  You have a name, parasite?

  [No.]

  I tapped a finger against my cheek thoughtfully, then turned to my companions. “I have a voice in my head, and he’s evil. What should I name him?”

  They shouted out suggestions as if this was the task they were born to do.

  “Karnocht!”

  “Caravex!”

  “Joshua!”

  I whipped my head around, facing Cedric. The other two joined me. His cheeks reddened, and he withdrew, crossing his arms to appear as small as possible.

  “It’s… It’s just an idea.”

  “I like it!”

  [You are not calling me that.]

  Try and stop me, Joshua.

  [...]

  The other two demons shrugged, but seemed happy for their friend. I glanced around at our surroundings, wondering what to do next, and spotted a small herd of wolf-like creatures in the distance.

  How the heck do you assert control? And what’s a “Dominion Power”?

  [Ignore that.]

  Joshua, I’m not doing that shit.

  [We’ll see.]

  “Alright y'all, let’s go get some exp!”

  Back in my world, this was always my favorite part of any game: the early grind. Roaming new areas, slaying random mobs, and watching the numbers climb... yeah, this was my kind of fun.

  The trio of demons nodded, following after me as I charged at the herd of wolf-like creatures.

  [Demonic Claws]

  I activated my skill, sharpened my nails, and cut a wargs head clean off.

  [Exp +5]

  [Gold +10]

  [Warg Fang +1]

  [Rare Drop: Warg Cloak +1]

  [Plains Warg added to index!]

  Finally, some luck. I accessed my inventory, taking in the items I had collected so far.

  I mentally selected the warg cloak, and a wolf-like cloth suddenly appeared around my shoulders.

  At least I’m not completely naked anymore.

  A new panel showed up, showcasing the items' info.

  My companions also managed to kill their own Wargs. Viressa used a fire skill, similar to my late friend, Kril. The Warg she attacked attempted to escape, but the flames snuffed out its HP after a few seconds. Zorrack struck another wolf-like monster with a bare fist, pummeling it into the ground. Cedric wielded a tiny bone-white dagger, dodging nimbly and striking fast. Each of their skills shimmered into the air above me as they were used.

  [Lesser Fireball]

  [Lesser Strength]

  [Lesser Agility]

  Not bad.

  But I was so focused on watching my newfound companions fighting, I neglected to pay attention to my surroundings. A Warg leapt from behind me, jaw wide. It bit into my arm, searing hot pain emanating from the wound. I grimaced, but slashed at the Warg, cutting deep into its side. The beast fell to the ground, then burst into three orbs that flew towards me.

  [Exp +5]

  [Gold +10]

  [Warg Fang +1]

  “Lucivar! Are you all right?” Viressa called out, a worried expression on her face.

  “I’m fine! Stay focused!” Another Warg snuck up beside her. She whirled around, sending a blast of flames into its open jaw. Looking down at my arm, I noticed the bleeding coming to a stop, and it seemed like the gaping wound was slowly closing.

  I brought up my profile screen, now split into two pages.

  Activating Demonic Claws used around five mana, and the bite from the Warg had done twenty damage after being reduced by the Warg Cloak’s resistances, but my health and mana pool were slowly climbing. My power rating had also jumped from ten to ninety, probably as a result of gaining a couple of skills.

  What happens if I reach zero mana or HP?

  [What do you think, dumbass?]

  Shut up, Joshua.

  [Stop calling me that.]

  The nearby friend's exp bonus continued to accrue, and eventually, I crossed over to the next level without having to personally kill any more Wargs.

  The last new skill I chose was shit, and I don’t really have that great of a skill to upgrade…

  I mentally selected the random reward option.

  [You feel luckier!]

  I’ll take it, I guess…?

  [Should’ve upgraded me.] Joshua taunted. I ignored the parasite, turning to my companions who gathered around me with smiles on their faces. The successful fight against the pack of Wargs had served to bolster their moods, and even Cedric had a wide smile on his face.

  “That was great!” Zorrack exclaimed, punching his fist into his hand.

  “I leveled up,” Cedric commented.

  “Me too,” Viressa added.

  I thought carefully about what to do next. It was probably best to get going with the quest that the system had given me, but the gamer inside of me wanted to go and explore my new world. I closed my eyes, thinking about the term that the quest had mentioned.

  [Territory claim failed!]

  A page shimmered in front of me.

  Whose territory is it then?

  “Uh, boss, I think something's coming.” Zorrack pointed nervously. I followed his finger, a large Warg, at least twice the size of the previous ones, was slowly making its way towards us.

  The Alpha Warg had three smaller Wargs trailing behind it. I did a quick mental count of how many we’d taken out so far.

  Seven, which means this should be the last of them.

  “Alright, team, this is gonna be our first real test!”

  The three demons around me nodded in agreement, clenching their jaws and preparing for battle.

  “Viressa, stay back and support us with fire magic!” I began giving out orders, thinking about classes in popular video games back in the real world. “Zorrack, stay up front with me, make sure they don’t get past.”

  The larger Demon boy nodded.

  “What should I do?” Cedric asked nervously.

  “Stay out of reach, but look for an opportunity to finish any of them off. And look out in case any of them start doing something suspicious!” With that, he rushed to our left, bone dagger in hand.

  [Demonic Claws]

  I felt my claws sharpen before taking a look at my first profile sheet. My HP had only regenerated back to one hundred, but my mana was back to full, dropping down to ninety-five after activating my skill.

  We stood still for a moment, watching as the group of Warg’s slowly pushed forward. Then, the alpha howled, and they began to charge forward in a full sprint.

  “Zorrack!” I shouted, but the brutish demon was already in motion. He slammed a meaty fist into the first creature, sending its body careening into the grass. He jumped after it, engaging in a deadly wrestling match.

  Another Warg leaped, trying to bite off his head. I sprinted forward, but I was too far…

  A bolt of fire rushed forward, singeing the Warg's torso and knocking it backwards. It whimpered in pain, rolling on the ground to put out the flames. But I was there in a flash, allowing my claws to carve through its neck. I looked up, seeing a blur of movement.

  It’s fast.

  The Alpha Warg reached out a paw, swiping at my Warg Cloak. Bright red blood scattered into the grass, leaving speckles of crimson against the sea of green. I whirled around, but it had already moved out of my reach.

  Zorrack stood, finished killing the first Warg, but was suddenly hit in the chest by the Alpha.

  “Zorrack!” I shouted. But behind me, I heard a scream. The third Warg had snuck up through the grass and was charging at Viressa. Its paw stretched out, inches away from her head…

  Cedric’s dagger came between them, batting the animal to the side. Both of them readied their stances, and I was confident they would not need my help.

  I faced back towards Zorrack, who kneeled in the grass, gasping for air. Scanning the surroundings, I couldn’t see any signs of the Alpha Warg.

  Did it run away?

  [Behind you dumbass.] Joshua said halfheartedly. I spun around, almost too late, but Joshua’s warning came just in time for me to react to the creature's attack. I ducked down and slammed a clawed hand right into the animal's chest. This time, it was the one who splattered blood across the grassy field.

  Zorrack rushed forward, grabbing the animal by the neck. They struggled, and the demon almost got tossed aside, but a fire bolt appeared out of nowhere, striking the Warg in its front leg. The knee buckled, then gave way, causing the beast to lean forward unnaturally. Almost simultaneously, Cedric flashed forward, slicing at the tendon of its back ankle.

  The creature, now fully restrained and bleeding out, lay still in the grass, shallow breaths escaping from its jaw.

  “Sorry, bud, but I’m gonna need your territory.” I stepped forward, severing its head cleanly from its body. It slowly morphed into a handful of glowing yellow orbs, distributed between the four demons who had collaborated to kill it.

  [Exp +50]

  [Gold +75]

  [Blood-Marked Claw +1]

  “Is everyone all right?” I called out, and the trio of demons all nodded back.

  Oh, so now you have confirmation messages?

  The system didn’t respond.

  I mentally selected the leftmost option, careful not to make the same mistake I had made before when I accidentally deleted the Demon Booklet.

  [You have successfully asserted control over your territory!]

  [Where… where am I?]

  [What the fuck did you just say to me?]

  [Convince? How about this for convincing. Follow the story, or I kill you.Thoughts?]